I didn't know if this should go in tech info or audio/electronics. Feel free to more it. 2017 RAM 1500 Tradesman with factory installed Uconnect 5.0 radio. I received my backup camera kit OEM a few hours ago and already have the tailgate work done. Tomorrow I'll start feeding the wire forward. I'm unsure if I'll do the wiring work behind the radio or hire someone to do it who does a lot a work installing radios and such. Dodge wanted $217 to install the kit, but they said they'll flash the XAC code for me for free if I install it, but they want me to install the camera first so they can check it out when they flash the XAC code. I was hoping to get the code flashed first so I could see it work as soon as I finish the install! LOL . My truck had the 10 pin harness already installed between the 2-pin jumper harness from the locking tailgate to the 2-pin harness under the truck. So I didn't have to feed the new tailgate harness through the the bottom of the tailgate/under the truck. Now I just have to run the 10-wire harness up to the front of the truck and start the wiring.
Midnight: Just finished running the wiring under the truck and up into the under-hood area. That actually took me several hours to be very meticulous about it. I'll put the ground wire on the bolt and the red wire to the PCM and run the rest of the harness into the driver's compartment tomorrow.
Next Day: I disconnected the battery today and wired the red wire under the hood to the PCM. I'd advise everyone to just use a scotch lock connector at this point. I skinned the wire, put the included sleeve on it and soldered it. A scotch lock connector would be a faster and do less damage to the wire and it's in a place where no moisture is going to get on the connection anyway, so it doesn't need to be sealed anymore than the back of the connector is (which is out in open-air anyway). Next I drilled a hole in the center of the plastic entry hole through the firewall. I didn't use the rubber nipple under the main harness as described in the video on youtube nor in the instruction sheet because it's too hard to get at and everyone reports it's really difficult to get the wires through it. Instead, drill a large hole in that 5" X 2" piece of plastic that is to the left and slightly up from that large rubber grommet that the main harness passes through. Drill a pilot hole through the center and you'll be able to see it under the dash to make sure you are lined up. Run the wires inside through that hole and get ready for the absolute hardest part of this whole project. After following the instructions to get the BCM (Body control module) unlatched from the panel (this is easy and isn't explained in the instructions: There is a grey locking mechanism (like the handle on a pail) that you have to swing up and over by first pressing the black release button next to the gray handle, then press it up and over. You can then pull the connector out pretty easily). Now is where I recommend you deviate from the instructions and the video. Cavity 45 is ALWAYS populated, so there's no need to separate the terminal block. It's so difficult to work under there that the first thing you'll want to do is cut away some of the tape that holds the wire harness together and pull it down as far as you can. Don't worry about taping it up afterwards. It makes absolutely no difference if it looks neat when your done. Since there's no need to separate the two terminal blocks and see if you can snap the purple wire into cavity 45 (because you can't, there's already an Orange/dark blue stripe in that place) just locate the Orange/dark blue strip on the back of the terminal, pull it out away from the rest of the wires as far as you can and then put a scotch lock connector on it and insert the purple wire from the harness into it and the press it together with a pair of pliers. DONE. It was a lot harder to do than to tell about it. The space to work in is very small and most work has to be done with one hand. If you could pull that darned connector out where you could actually work on it, this would be the easiest part of the install, but you can gain very little working room even by cutting away some of the tape. It's just a nightmare to complete this part of the install. One guy said if you don't put the BCM back in correctly, the truck won't start. IT WILL ONLY GO IN ONE WAY. So I don't know how he found that out
Onto the dash work now that I have the harness through the firewall and the purple wire connected to the BCM. By the way, cut off or tape back the yellow wire that was with the purple wire as it's not needed for anything. I'd like to know what it was for. They must have had some reason to put it in the harness? Also, be informed that the purple wire doesn't need to be connected if you want to just give up at that point. The only thing it does is cause the backup lines to curve when you turn the wheel.
Wiring-in the included empty connector that was taped to the main harness is a piece of cake. Watch the youtube video and take a screen shot of the back of the connector when he shows it to you and print it out, then compare it to the instructions as you insert the 6 wires. They just snap in and will only go in one way. If it doesn't snap in, pull it out and rotate it 180 degrees and try again. Pull on each wire to make sure it doesn't come back out. Then plug in the final short harness with the 3 wires on the end. Run that harness up under the dash behind the radio but you might want to wait until you get the radio out so you can see it coming.
FINISHED: OK, got it done. Took 3 days of working a few hours a day. Today was the worst with the final wiring. The BCM was the worst. Getting the front trim off the radio perplexed me at first. In the video it shows it coming right off like it was loose, but in reality it has 10 plastic clips that clip into slots in the dash and it takes a good pull to break them loose. I used a piece of flat plastic that I had laying around that was for smoothing out wall spackle and inserted it in at the top and pried it out until I heard the top two break loose, then I forced it into the sides and put side pressure to pop them loose (the soft plastic spatula I used won't scratch the plastic dash) and I finally broke them all loose and pulled it out, laid it down without disconnecting any wires from it, then took out the 4 radio screws and pulled it out. Swing the "bail" lever on the 52 pin connector (just like on the BCM connector) and pull it out. The three wires from your harness go into the top 3 empty spots just follow the directions in the instructions (they are correct). I was hoping to snap them in without taking the red plate off the front, but no go. You have to remove it. I used a small jewelers screwdriver to press into the slot on each end to release the red cover. DO NOT PRY IT OUT FROM THE FRONT. LOOK AT THE ENDS ON THE BACK AND IN TWO OF THE EDGE SLOTS YOU'LL SEE THE RED CONNECT TABS. JUST PRESS ON THEM TO PRESS IT OUT. After you get that out the rest is easy, just snap in your three wires, reinsert the red face plate (it will only go in one way) and put everything back together. Now I have to get the code flashed into the trucks computer at the dealer and see if it all works. If it works, I won't be back here. If it doesn't work, I'll post what the problem and fix was.
Midnight: Just finished running the wiring under the truck and up into the under-hood area. That actually took me several hours to be very meticulous about it. I'll put the ground wire on the bolt and the red wire to the PCM and run the rest of the harness into the driver's compartment tomorrow.
Next Day: I disconnected the battery today and wired the red wire under the hood to the PCM. I'd advise everyone to just use a scotch lock connector at this point. I skinned the wire, put the included sleeve on it and soldered it. A scotch lock connector would be a faster and do less damage to the wire and it's in a place where no moisture is going to get on the connection anyway, so it doesn't need to be sealed anymore than the back of the connector is (which is out in open-air anyway). Next I drilled a hole in the center of the plastic entry hole through the firewall. I didn't use the rubber nipple under the main harness as described in the video on youtube nor in the instruction sheet because it's too hard to get at and everyone reports it's really difficult to get the wires through it. Instead, drill a large hole in that 5" X 2" piece of plastic that is to the left and slightly up from that large rubber grommet that the main harness passes through. Drill a pilot hole through the center and you'll be able to see it under the dash to make sure you are lined up. Run the wires inside through that hole and get ready for the absolute hardest part of this whole project. After following the instructions to get the BCM (Body control module) unlatched from the panel (this is easy and isn't explained in the instructions: There is a grey locking mechanism (like the handle on a pail) that you have to swing up and over by first pressing the black release button next to the gray handle, then press it up and over. You can then pull the connector out pretty easily). Now is where I recommend you deviate from the instructions and the video. Cavity 45 is ALWAYS populated, so there's no need to separate the terminal block. It's so difficult to work under there that the first thing you'll want to do is cut away some of the tape that holds the wire harness together and pull it down as far as you can. Don't worry about taping it up afterwards. It makes absolutely no difference if it looks neat when your done. Since there's no need to separate the two terminal blocks and see if you can snap the purple wire into cavity 45 (because you can't, there's already an Orange/dark blue stripe in that place) just locate the Orange/dark blue strip on the back of the terminal, pull it out away from the rest of the wires as far as you can and then put a scotch lock connector on it and insert the purple wire from the harness into it and the press it together with a pair of pliers. DONE. It was a lot harder to do than to tell about it. The space to work in is very small and most work has to be done with one hand. If you could pull that darned connector out where you could actually work on it, this would be the easiest part of the install, but you can gain very little working room even by cutting away some of the tape. It's just a nightmare to complete this part of the install. One guy said if you don't put the BCM back in correctly, the truck won't start. IT WILL ONLY GO IN ONE WAY. So I don't know how he found that out
Onto the dash work now that I have the harness through the firewall and the purple wire connected to the BCM. By the way, cut off or tape back the yellow wire that was with the purple wire as it's not needed for anything. I'd like to know what it was for. They must have had some reason to put it in the harness? Also, be informed that the purple wire doesn't need to be connected if you want to just give up at that point. The only thing it does is cause the backup lines to curve when you turn the wheel.
Wiring-in the included empty connector that was taped to the main harness is a piece of cake. Watch the youtube video and take a screen shot of the back of the connector when he shows it to you and print it out, then compare it to the instructions as you insert the 6 wires. They just snap in and will only go in one way. If it doesn't snap in, pull it out and rotate it 180 degrees and try again. Pull on each wire to make sure it doesn't come back out. Then plug in the final short harness with the 3 wires on the end. Run that harness up under the dash behind the radio but you might want to wait until you get the radio out so you can see it coming.
FINISHED: OK, got it done. Took 3 days of working a few hours a day. Today was the worst with the final wiring. The BCM was the worst. Getting the front trim off the radio perplexed me at first. In the video it shows it coming right off like it was loose, but in reality it has 10 plastic clips that clip into slots in the dash and it takes a good pull to break them loose. I used a piece of flat plastic that I had laying around that was for smoothing out wall spackle and inserted it in at the top and pried it out until I heard the top two break loose, then I forced it into the sides and put side pressure to pop them loose (the soft plastic spatula I used won't scratch the plastic dash) and I finally broke them all loose and pulled it out, laid it down without disconnecting any wires from it, then took out the 4 radio screws and pulled it out. Swing the "bail" lever on the 52 pin connector (just like on the BCM connector) and pull it out. The three wires from your harness go into the top 3 empty spots just follow the directions in the instructions (they are correct). I was hoping to snap them in without taking the red plate off the front, but no go. You have to remove it. I used a small jewelers screwdriver to press into the slot on each end to release the red cover. DO NOT PRY IT OUT FROM THE FRONT. LOOK AT THE ENDS ON THE BACK AND IN TWO OF THE EDGE SLOTS YOU'LL SEE THE RED CONNECT TABS. JUST PRESS ON THEM TO PRESS IT OUT. After you get that out the rest is easy, just snap in your three wires, reinsert the red face plate (it will only go in one way) and put everything back together. Now I have to get the code flashed into the trucks computer at the dealer and see if it all works. If it works, I won't be back here. If it doesn't work, I'll post what the problem and fix was.
